The New Yorker House Style Joins the Internet Age
In today’s newsletter, Jonathan Blitzer reports on the man responsible for South Texas’s rightward turn. But, first, some alterations to our style guide. Plus:
Andrew Boynton
Head of Copy
Keen-eyed grammar fans may notice some changes in our pages—and in this newsletter. Last fall, David Remnick, the editor, suggested convening a group to talk about the magazine’s house style, to see if any rules might bear reëxamination. The group—comprising copy editors, current and former, and editors—met this past January and came up with a list of styles that might qualify for changes, and in a subsequent meeting the following month the director of copy and production and I came up with a limited list of proposals. It was decided that, while no one wanted to change some of the long-standing “quirky” styles (teen-ager, per cent, etc.), some of newer vintage could go. Along with a few other changes, “in-box” is now “inbox,” “Web site” is now “website,” “Internet” is now “internet,” and “cell phone” is now “cellphone” (though everyone acknowledges that the word “cell” in this context will soon disappear altogether).
Some of you may lament the changes as being radically modern, while others are likely to greet them as long overdue. Welcome to 1995, you may be thinking. (Italicized thoughts are new, too.) Regardless, it should be noted that the diaeresis (see that “reëxamination,” above) has overwhelming support at the magazine, and will remain.
Further reading: You may remember Boynton from his copy-editing of Donald Trump’s statements and speeches.
Illustration by Diego Mallo; Source photograph from Bloomberg / Getty
The Unchecked Authority of Greg Abbott
If you want to understand how the immigration debate came to dominate electoral politics in the United States—in no small part helping Trump take back the White House—you have to take a closer look at Texas, and specifically at its governor, Greg Abbott. The three-term leader “single-handedly changed the national politics around immigration,” a senior Biden Administration official tells Jonathan Blitzer, who reports from Texas, for this week’s issue, about Abbott’s rapid consolidation of power.
Blitzer, who has written extensively on immigration, explores how Abbott matched his party’s rightward turn on a variety of other issues, including school choice, abortion, and transgender rights—and tapped into unexpected support in the borderlands, which are heavily Hispanic and historically Democratic. “If anyone should get credit for flipping South Texas, it’s Abbott, not Trump,” a veteran political reporter says. And now, as Trump attempts to move forward on his most radical and complex anti-immigration measures, Blitzer notes that “any path to achieving his aims runs through Texas.”
Read or listen to the story »
John Cassidy
Source photograph by Cheney Orr / Bloomberg / Getty
Will Trumpian Uncertainty Knock the Economy Into a Recession?
As the markets fall, the question of recession grows more pressing. “There is only so much chaos and uncertainty that households and businesses and financial markets can take,” Cassidy argues. “And since January 20th, Trump has been pushing them to the limits.” Read the column »
More Top Stories
Daily Cartoon
“Thanks, but I still have at least another month of seasonal depression to go.”
Cartoon by Tyson Cole
More Fun & Games
P.S. Daylight-saving time has kicked back in, giving us a bit more glow at the end of each day—apologies to early risers and the otherwise cranky. To celebrate, enjoy this ode to last light in the poem “A Sunset,” by Robert Hass: “And the sunset—peach to dull gold which faded / To what felt, for just a second, for less / Than a second, a blessed and arriving silence, / And then a pale green at the skyline, / And then dark. And it was Monday night.” 🌇
Ian Crouch contributed to today’s edition.
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